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The Confusing Nomenclature of Public Entitlements Note the highly confusing nature of the acronyms and terminology commonly used. For example: SSI is the official acronym for "Supplemental Security Income", but is is easily mis-applied or mis-interpreted to mean Social Security Insurance. SSA means "Social Security Administration", but is also often the shorthand used to refer to the money people who have retired in the usual manner get from Social Security. SSDI means "Social Security Disability Insurance" which is very much not the same as SSI. SSDI is available to people who have become disabled and are eligible for regular Social Security. There is no needs test. an SSDI recipient can have income in any amount from any source, get free housing and so on. Same rules as apply to regular retired people. Eligibility for SSDI is available to a worker who has become disabled. SSDI is also available to a worker's son or daughter when the son or daughter has a disability originating before the age of 22 AND the worker is retired. SSI and SSDI sound close enough to be confused for the same thing. To avoid this, many people refer to Social Security Disability Insurance as SSD, which seems to suggest that there may be some other program than SSDI, or that SSDI and SSI may be the same-- neither of which is so. Many people refer to any program through Social Security as SSA to distinguish it from SSI. However, both programs are administered by the Social Security Administration. Although SSI is administered by the Social Security Administration, it is not part of the Social Security system. Although one has to be disabled to receive SSI, that does not mean that the person receives income through Social Security Disability. It is almost impossible to always avoid using Medicare and Medicaid interchangeably. Both programs provide medical insurance. They differ in what they cover. Medicaid is a needs tested program provided by the states. Medicare is a federal program available to anyone receiving Social Security Retirement or Social Security Disability and is unaffected by income or resources of the person. And so on ... My advice is to not use acronyms. If one is referring to Supplemental Security Income, say all three words. If one is referring to Social Security Disability, say those words. Most importantly, never assume that anyone using an acronym both knows for sure what it means and is using it correctly. Even seasoned professionals commonly have word finding problems and use the wrong acronym. Pepole will very, very often state with considerable certainty that a certain benefit is in place, and be wrong. See Is Income SSI or SSDI or What?
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